The legislative changes will drastically increase the amount of money that is charged for electricity.

Currently due to an old contract that expires in 2015, industrial customers pay 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour.

The legislation will largely exclude the Public Utilities Board from rate setting in Labrador industrial situations.

Officials said this policy will not affect residential or commercial rates in Labrador.

At its core, Kennedy said the goal is to increase industrial rates - Labrador currently has the lowest rates in the country - but still keep the Labrador rate lower than the competition across the border in Quebec.

Comments

Comments

Your name*Email*Comment*

Recent comments

No Muskrat

December 12, 2012 - 14:43

To Buisness man again, this Province is thriving and I am sure that the few hundred unvalued employees you have won't have a problem moving on , you are the type of buisness owner that this province don't want, You can do what ever you want to make your family richer, maybe that all that keeps your famiily together, but at the end of the day if everyone (including your family) knew how you really feel they would agree that you can go your merry way and be an a$$hole employer elsewhere.

To Buisness man- don't take this personal, but you should take your ball and go home, me as a ratepayer don't give a crap about your buisness up and leaving. I don't want to foot your bill.- Also if you do go, clean up your own mess and don't let the door hit you on the way out

Thank your for your comment. Sure, as a ratepayer, you don't care if I move my business, but that is probably because you are not one of my employees. But if you were, you might be okay with the rate increase it i meant you would keep your job. In any case, I will do what is best for me, because it is my right to do so. But guess what? I also don't care about my business leaving. If throwing a few hundred people out of work will allow me to save money in energy cost, then that is something that I will do. Not because I hate my workers, but rather they because my workers are not family and are therefore low on my list of priorities. I certainly wish my workers, but if throwing them out of work to save money on energy costs will allow my family to have more, then I have a duty to do so. Lastly, if and when I leave, I will not clean up anything that the does not say I have to. And maybe the door WILL hit me on the way out, but there will certainly be another jurisdiction that will open the door for me. They won't do so because I am special or because I am a nice guy....they will do so because I will be bringing jobs that used to be somewhere else.

a business man

December 12, 2012 - 09:38

I am an industrial user of energy, and I demand cheaper jobs. I don't care if rate payers end up subsidizing my already profitable company, I just want cheaper energy. If Newfoundland does not give me cheaper energy, I will take my company and find someone else to give me cheaper energy. My employees mean nothing to me, my profits mean everything. Sure, I sound like a little school kid who is ready to take my ball and go home if I don't get my way, by as the owner of my company, that is the reality of the situation. If I don't get cheaper energy, I will leave and take the jobs with me. And even if I get cheaper energy, I will still leave if someone else offers me even cheaper energy. Ratepayers must pay for my energy, or some ratepayers will lose their jobs. Plain and simple. I am not sure how much more ratepayers will end up paying to subsidize industrial users, but at the end of the day, I either get cheap energy or workers will be displaced. It is not personal, it is just business based on a balance sheet. That said, there are plenty of people all around the world who can do the same type of work. Newfoundland does not have a monopoly on labourers, so I am free to go anywhere.

Oh my.....I think the northern peninsula should say to hell with the rest of the Province and Canada, and go on its own. We would have a thriving fishery, with resources such as OIL.....and put a stop to the trans Labrador Link, or at least charge them for using the land its on.............industrial rates.....Point 6 cents....fregging funny by...big companies own this country...capitalism at its finest.

So, Kennedy/Blunderbuss will legislate that the taxpayers of NL will be on the hook to ensure the profitability of these international corporations that rape our resources. And did I read that right - that '...industrial customers pay .6 cents per KWH"? Point 6 cents?!!? How much more is my bill so they get this giveaway? This crowd make me sick.